For All the Green In the Galaxy
by ArSommers
Summary: ["The Reylo Chronicles", Book 5] Rey has a disturbing vision about Ben; Ben asks Rey one of the most important questions of his life.
1. Chapter 1

She was in the middle of a warzone.

Trying to ignore the sound of blasters firing in the distance, Rey forced her legs to move through the field of the dead. There were no insignias on the uniforms to indicate whether the fallen were from the Resistance or the First Order. Even the Starcruiser, smoldering nearby, provided no indication of what allegiance these men held. Rey didn't recognize any of the faces she'd come across, but there was one person she knew would be among them.

"Ben!" Rey called, even though her attempt was in vain. She tried to sift through the individuals by using the Force, but her senses were muffled, as if someone had put an invisible cap over them. All she heard was violence over the hills, all she smelled was the burning metal of the ship, and all she saw was death. Still she continued, knowing she could not leave until she found the man she loved.

And eventually, she did.

Rey dropped to the ground and placed her fingers against Ben's neck, but there wasn't a pulse. Tears streaming down her face, she placed his head in her lap and stroked his hair.

"You can't leave me," she cried, his blood covering her hands and soaking through her cotton pants. "You promised you would stay with me no matter what," But Ben gave no whispers of comfort, nor gestures of reassurance. Once again, she was alone.

As Rey's world began to crumble, someone grasped her shoulders from behind. Unhooking the lightsaber from her hip,Rey turned to face her attacker, shouting through hot tears as she placed the blade against her assailant's neck.

"Rey, wake up!" Ben shouted. "It's me,"

It took a moment for everything to register. One moment Rey had been in a field, the next on the floor of a dusty room. Slowly everything began to come back. She and Ben were still traveling, trying to avoid detection of both the Resistance and the First Order. At the moment were residing on the lesser-known planet of Tatooine.

Rey switched the lightsaber off and fell backwards. "You were dead," she said breathlessly, quickly wiping the remainder of her sweat and tears away with the heel of her palm. "You weren't responding,"

"It was just a dream," Ben said, gingerly lifting himself to a sitting position, slightly favoring a side where she had bruised him.

"No, it wasn't," Rey insisted. "This was similar to the time I first held Luke's lightsaber. It was a vision,"

Even in the dark Rey saw the muscles tense on Ben's face. They both knew that Jedis and Sith were prone to visions of the past, present, and future. They also knew of the foresights Anakin had on Tatooine many years ago.

"Visions are not foolproof," Ben reminded Rey as he wrapped his arms around her. "They can be avoidable futures, or even metaphors,"

"But we can't know for certain," Rey said. She pressed her head against Ben's chest, trying to find solace in the fact that his heart was still beating. "Whatever path we are traveling leads to your death,"

"Then tell me about it," Ben pulled back to look at Rey, "So we can avoid this future,"

"It was the aftermath of a battle," Rey recalled, trying to piece the already fading images together. "A starship crashed. There were many victims among the wreckage, and you were one of them,"

"Well, I'm not planning on joining a squadron anytime soon," Ben said, trying to calm her with a smile. "It's just the two of us,"

"But it won't always be like this," Rey said. "Eventually I will have to return to the Resistance,"

"I know," Ben said. "And while you are away I'll wait for you,"

"You can't sit around biding your time," Rey said. They had this discussion multiple times before. Neither were certain what Ben would do after they'd finished lying low, so they'd evaded putting together any concrete plans, trying to avoid the inevitable truth by continuing their journey from planet to planet. But one day, they knew, the running would have to cease.

"You should try to get some sleep," Ben offered. "Everything seems worse during the night. In the morning we'll be more clear-headed and can think about this with more rationality,"

Rey shook her head. "Sleep is out of the question," she said. "Just promise you won't ride in any cruisers until we leave this planet?" She knew it was a silly request, but the thought of Ben being near any type of spacecraft sent gooseflesh crawling up her arms.

"I promise," Ben said.

"Good," Rey could see the exhaustion creeping back into Ben's eyes. "I don't want to keep you up," she said. "Go back to bed,"

"Not until I know you are all right,"

Rey bit her lip. A Jedi couldn't shake off a vision just like that. Ben could afford to be optimistic; he hadn't just experienced the things she had.

"Stay with me?" she asked.

Ben kissed her forehead. "Always,"

The two snuggled in for the remainder of the night on Rey's mattress. With two bodies on the twin-sized pad both lingered dangerously close to the edge, but neither took any notice. As soon as Ben laid his head on the pillow and wrapped his arms around his love, he was fast asleep.

Rey, on the other hand, remained awake. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Ben on the field. So she kept her eyes open, alert to any threat that may come bursting unannounced into the room.

For she had a sickening feeling that history was about to repeat itself.


	2. Chapter 2

The arrival of the suns did not provide much comfort, but Rey had to admit it was better to worry in daylight as opposed to darkness. So she and Ben sat, sipping caffeinated beverages as Rey recounted everything she could remember about her vision. Even with the newfound clarity, however, they were unable to draw any conclusions aside from avoiding spacecraft altogether.

"Which is near impossible," Ben said.

Rey looked out the tiny window at the desert dunes. "Perhaps it has to do with this place," she said, recalling the stories of what happened to Ben's great-grandmother.

Ben squirmed uncomfortably. He never wanted to travel to Tatooine in the first place. During his reign as Kylo Ren, he'd minimized the presence of Stormtroopers on the planet until they'd been removed altogether. "It's a place of hope," he'd said through the black mask, "And too far away to be of any significance. To waste resources there with the Resistance battling us here would be counterproductive to our mission,"

This reasoning, of course, was why Ben and Rey now found themselves on Tatooine. That, and Rey had shown an interest in seeing the home of her Jedi Master. Ben hadn't wanted to disappoint Rey by voicing his opposition, but now he wondered if he should have spoken up. If these visions really were stemming from the planet, they would have saved themselves a lot of worry and grief if they'd avoided it altogether.

"Look," Ben set down his mug. "We aren't getting anywhere by bouncing ideas around. How about we take a stroll around the market and get some fresh air?"

Rey hesitated. Rarely did they ever venture out in public. But, she reminded herself, they were in the outer reaches now. And should they come face to face with any potentially compromising situations, they could always call upon the Force to momentarily manipulate the minds of their oppressors (unless, of course, their oppressors happened to be Toydarians).

"Perhaps we should," Rey agreed. "We do need to restock before our departure,"

Their budget was minimal and their resources few, but to Rey it felt good to be out in the open world again. Being at a market in the desert also reminded her of Jakku, before her life was inundated with war and politics. She even felt the old urge to scavenge a piece of junk and turn it into something usable. It wasn't long before she found her chance.

"A junkyard?" Ben asked incredulously as Rey opened the large wire gate. "Why would you want to go in there?"

"The prices are cheap or non-existent," Rey explained. "Which, quite frankly, fits perfectly within our price range,"

"Of course the prices are reasonable," Ben said. "Because it's all junk,"

"Just because many consider something to be trash doesn't make it useless," Rey said. "Now, are you coming or not? Or are you afraid to get a little dirt on you?"

"I'm not afraid of dirt," Ben muttered in defeat as he reluctantly followed her. "Let's just start browsing. The sooner we begin the sooner we can leave,"

Shoving his shoulder playfully, Rey began to sift through the metal, trying to analyze the usefulness of each piece. Most of what she found was scrap from speeders. Then, lying in a corner, she found a dome-shaped object with a metal circle in the middle. In an effort to see what use this could be, Rey ran her finger along the circle. Noticing the circle was in fact a button, she pressed it, then recoiled in surprise when the item sprouted limbs and sprang to life.

"It's a droid!" Rey exclaimed as the thing began to walk around. Or at least it tried; its leg wasn't functioning properly, as part of it had been charred and melted away. Still, it hobbled over to Rey, tapping her staff with one of its nubby fingers. Not quite sure what to expect, Rey tried to shoosh it away by gently nudging it with her boot. Now having its turn for surprise, the droid fell comically backwards, only to lift itself back up and inspect Rey's staff again.

"Energetic little thing, isn't he?" Ben asked.

"He is," Rey knelt down. "What are you?" she asked it.

"It's a pit droid," a tan-colored alien with a large mouth said from behind. "One of the salvageable ones that survived the explosion-malfunction at the beginning of last year's Pod Race," Rey looked at Ben to see if he was following what the junkyard employee was saying, but Ben shrugged. "If you want it, he's yours for three wupiupi. These things barely hold any value, even when they're in working condition,"

Rey took another look at the droid, thinking back to the time she saw Teedo with BB-8. The number of beings that had no respect for droids was astounding. Like BB-8, she felt a twinge of compassion for this one. How long had the droid been there, rusting away as he sat unused? There had to be a better purpose for him. Perhaps she and Ben could give it one.

"We'll take it," Rey said, watching as the droid tugged curiously on the cloth that hung around her shoulders.

"I didn't realize they still used wupiupi around here," Ben said as they scouted for a place to eat. "It's not surprising really," Rey said. "Without a strong form of leadership, its no wonder the Hutts control the land,"

"So how much of this currency do we have?" Ben asked. Subtracting the three they'd deducted from the droid (Pit, as they decided to call him), not much was left, unless they wanted to sell more items from their personal inventory.

"Maybe enough to buy a few meals," Rey said.

Ben nodded. "We still have food in the cruiser's frozen compactor. If we ration what we buy today we'll have enough till we reach our next destination,"

Most of the meals served in the market were fairly inexpensive, such as meats from small creatures, stew, and bread. Most of the food was for eating on the spot, but there were also edibles for those who wished to have an instant meal at a later time.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Rey gasped.

"What?" Ben peered through the hustle of alien creatures.

"They have _portions_!" Rey exclaimed. "I haven't had portions in years!"

Ben made a face. "Aren't those bland?"

"Well, yes," Rey admitted. "But they are very filling," She pointed to a vendor selling the packets behind a counter. "I'll pick some up. If we mix it with meat, they will have more flavor,"

Ben sighed as he watched Rey order four packets, wondering if he would ever enjoy a hearty meal again.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben and Rey's final evening on Tatooine fell on the end of the week. As customary on many planets throughout the galaxy, the locals marked their two days of freedom by socializing over drinks and playing music. As the twin suns dipped below the skyline, the mellow tone wafted through the single window in Rey and Ben's rented space.

"This is more like it," Rey sighed, thankful that the upbeat jazz music from earlier had ended before they retired for the day.

"I agree," Ben hesitated, and then asked "Would you care to join me in a dance?"

Surprised, Rey turned to face Ben. His expression was serious, but inviting. "I'm not very good," she warned.

"No matter," Ben held out his hand. "Neither am I,"

Nervous, Rey placed her arms around Ben's neck as he put his hands on her waist. Her solitary life on Jakku hadn't provided many opportunities to dance, and neither did joining the Rebellion. The only time she'd danced with a partner was with Finn when they'd attended a wedding for two Rebels in the Resistance. It had been awkward for both of them, Rey stepping on Finn's toes while he tried to sway his body in rhythm with the music. Nonetheless she'd had fun, and after getting over her initial self-consciousness, all she saw in the room was the man in front of her.

The same sense of contentment held true when Rey danced with Ben. They moved to the slow melody, lost in that special universe that can only be found in another's eyes. In that moment, they forgot all about the war and bloodshed, as if there were nobody in existence but the two of them.

Rey closed her eyes and rested her head on the crook of Ben's neck. "This is wonderful," she whispered. She'd spent her life searching for a place to call home, and it was only recently that she'd found it in Ben's arms.

Ben broke her thoughts when his feet stopped moving. Opening her eyes, Rey was about to ask what was wrong when Ben began to speak.

"Rey," he said, "From the moment you entered my life I knew there was nothing more I could ever ask for. You not only brought me back to the light, but you filled a void that had been tearing me apart.

"The universe could throw a million stumbling blocks my way, but with your support I feel as though I could overcome them all. And if you were to stand by my side for the remainder of my days, I would want nothing more out of this life. But first I must ask this question," Slowly, Ben knelt on one knee and pulled out a ring with a green stone in the center. "Will you marry me?"

Rey had envisioned her life unfolding many ways, from a Jedi Master to one of the Rebellion's top pilots. But she would trade any of these dreams for the chance to be Ben's wife.

Forcing her voice not to quaver from emotion, Rey responded, "Yes, of course I will be yours,"

Ben slipped the ring on Rey's finger, the fading light making a rainbow as it hit the stone from various angles. Overcome with emotion, Rey pulled Ben in and kissed him deeply, allowing his presence to fill her senses.

From that moment onward, there would be no more hesitation, no more wondering when they would part or for how long. No longer did they have to make excuses about reasons to leave, as they now had every reason to stay by each other's side.

Still smiling from the purest form of happiness, Rey looked down at the ring on her finger. "I thought green would be fitting," Ben said, "Seeing as how much you love forests,"

"I love _you_ ," Rey said, cupping his face in her hands, "More than all the green in the galaxy,"

[To be continued in the sixth installment of The Reylo Chronicles, "Where Loyalties Lie"]


End file.
